Asset performance management specialist Pragma, supported by Aurecon Energy Services, conducted a technical review of four key transmission substations for Namibia’s national power utility, NamPower, in May and June.

The four transmission substations included Auas, outside Windhoek; Kokerboom, in the vicinity of Keetmanshoop; Omburu, near Omaruru, and Kuiseb, on the edge of the Namib, inland from Walvis Bay.

Pragma project manager and partner con- sultant Karl Nepgen explains that the purpose of the intervention was to assess the current condition of various operational and asset management areas as specified by the project terms of reference. This was done through evaluating the quality and effectiveness of the current maintenance and operating practices. The project report was to provide NamPower with an objective, specialist statement which would inform the risk management pertaining to its business.

The investigation focused on two areas – maintenance and operations. The findings were based on the consideration of a com- bination of aspects, including the risk of complete equipment failure or network outage; the risk to quality of supply, personnel and the environment; as well as urgent maintenance required to reduce risk and ensure the extended and expected remaining life of equipment.

The review was performed by a combina- tion of off-site information scrutiny and on-site physical assessments. The consultants then viewed all major equipment areas and recorded observations on structured score sheets for subsequent capturing in electronic format.

“Generally, the substations reviewed were found to be in very good condition and well maintained. Achieving such a positive outcome is partly because of very beneficial climatic conditions at the inland sites, but also because of a highly experienced, very hands-on technical workforce in the Transmission Business Unit who are all very loyal to their profession, the business and the country – in true Namibian style,” says Nepgen.

Aurecon Energy Services technical direc- tor Dio du Toit says that if a comparison were to be made between the South African situation and the condition of the NamPower network, NamPower would compare very favourably.

The technical review was preceded by an asset management maturity assessment of the Transmission Asset Maintenance divi- sion, performed by Pragma towards the end of last year. The technical review project complemented the first project and the findings correlated well.

“A project of this nature . . . focusing on the risk to the organisation’s core business as constituted by the condition of and the situation surrounding critical infrastructure assets, is fully supportive of current global good asset management practice as expressed by standards such as PAS 55 and the imminent ISO 55000,” says Nepgen.